


Oh, How Wrong We Were to Think Immortality Meant Never Dying

by Sam_Nook



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Death, Immortality, NA bros, Poor Alfred, prompt was immortality, talks of death and immortality, wc20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:21:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sam_Nook/pseuds/Sam_Nook
Summary: Matthew took a moment to think about his answer. He didn't exactly fear dying; he had died before, after all. He had been stabbed, shot, starved, and frozen to death throughout his long life. That didn't phase him. He would be dead, but soon his heart would start pumping, and he would wake up with a new nightmare to ignore. Now, permanent death. Well, Matthew was scared of that.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Oh, How Wrong We Were to Think Immortality Meant Never Dying

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Writers Corner July Challenge with the prompt immortality.

Matthew considered himself to be strong. He said nothing as the soldiers marched into the saferoom and arrested him, he said nothing as they interrogated him. He said nothing as they threatened to kill him. 

He only screamed as his brother fell lifeless to the ground, like a puppet cut from its strings. 

They threatened to do the same to him, but Matthew only laughed. 

Matthew's only companion was the slowly dying flame of the torch outside the iron bars that caged him in the prison he called his home. He watched it flicker against the stone wall behind it, and cast shadows that briefly reminded him of home. It made his stomach hurt. 

It seemed that the soldiers had decided on leaving Matthew in his cell to rot. That didn't scare him until the first month passed. By the time they returned, Matthew was ready to give in. 

He nearly cried as they bathed him and led him to a table full of food. He almost hesitated, years of military training still ingrained in him, before he dug in. When he had finished, they led him to a bed. 

Deep down, he knew it was a peace offering. He was a lamb led to the slaughter. 

"Mister Williams, you are the anthropomorphic national embodiment of the Dominion of Canada, correct?" Matthew steeled himself and nodded. A stack of files slammed on the mahogany tabletop, making Matthew jump in his seat. 

"Well, perhaps, Mister Williams, you will be more cooperative than your American counterpart. Unfortunately, his rebellious tendency must be dealt with until he learns how to cooperate. For now, we'll settle with you."

Matthew's breath hitched, and worry began to build in the bottom of his stomach like a balloon rising into the sky. "What did you do to him? You can't kill him." 

The man in front of him gave him a tight smile, "there are far worse things than death."

Matthew wasn't sure he believed that. 

Even from a young age, Matthew had a deep understanding of death. He could remember once, before he had become a colony, meeting a young man. Matthew had been following a mother bear and her cubs when he stumbled over the frozen body of a dying man. He stared down at the man, mesmerized by the faraway look in the man's brown eyes, and only left when his last breath froze in the air like a previous plea for life. 

As an immortal being, Matthew never had to worry about permanent death. Not until his country was nothing but a mere memory in a forgotten history book. But that didn't stop him from wondering what his last moment would be. Would he cry out, or would it be silent? Matthew wasn't sure which sounded better. 

He didn't want to die. 

That much was obvious. And it seemed that they, the soldiers, knew that. Perhaps, that was what sparked their sudden interest in them, or maybe Alfred had really been stubborn enough to break them even if he had broken himself with them. 

"Mister Williams? What do you think of death?" 

Matthew took a moment to think about his answer. He didn't exactly fear dying; he had died before, after all. He had been stabbed, shot, starved, and frozen to death throughout his long life. That didn't phase him. He would be dead, but soon his heart would start pumping, and he would wake up with a new nightmare to ignore. Now, permanent death. Well, Matthew was scared of that. 

Permanent death meant no coming back—nothing there to start his heart up again or to coax breath out of him. It meant the end. After his final death, he would disappear from the world and eventually from the memories of those who knew him. Matthew was forgettable enough, even when he was alive. He didn't want to know how quickly the world would forget Matthew Williams once he died. 

Nothing scared him more than being forgotten by everyone, by having no one remember him as they traveled through Toronto or spoke of hockey. 

_I could have sworn there was someone here like us. Matthias? Mickey? Oh, who cares? He probably wasn't important enough._

"You're scared of it, aren't you?"

Matthew's silence gave them the answer. 

"Perfect."

He had been allowed to see Alfred a month later. His brother was bound to a wall, his expression unreadable. He gazed past Matthew and spoke softly. "Let me tell you, Canada, there are worse things than death."

Matthew watched Alfred slip away, his mind fighting internal demons as he curled in onto himself and pulled against the chains holding him. Matthew began to believe that when Alfred started to scream. 

"What have you done to him?"

"Oh, we've shown him his faults, his mistakes, his fears," there was a pregnant pause followed by an unreadable smirk, "we've made him human." 

Matthew came to realize that Alfred was no more human than he had ever been. His immortal blood still ran through his body, red and evergreen, and his heart still pumped in purpose of his people. Matthew came to realize that they had only taken away everything that made Alfred America. He was a shell of what he once was. His purpose destroyed, his identity shattered into millions of pieces, and a plead for death on his lips. Alfred was broken beyond repair, and the only thing he wanted, death, was denied. 

They had managed to destroy a nation eternally. 

Matthew's stomach twisted as the truth hit him. Being safe from death meant nothing more than the excuse of never disappearing. They were safe from that. The nations would thrive as the world shifted around them, adapting as time change, but destroy a country from inside and let them suffer forever with that pain? They had no get out of jail free card for that. 

"It is safe to say, Mister Williams, that your brother is fully cooperating with us." 

_Oh, how wrong we were to think immortality meant never dying._


End file.
